Civil Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
composites with vegetable fibres and their improvement have been studied in
Moriana et al. (
2011
).
These challenges have provided a boost to vegetable-fibre-reinforced material
research. Binici et al. (
2005
) has investigated the mechanical properties of certain
combinations of fibrous waste materials and some stabilizers and proposed that
these materials can be used as earthquake-resistant materials due to their high
compressive strength. They concluded that the interface layers of fibrous materials
increased the compressive strength and a certain geometrical shape of these layer
materials gave the best results. Lignocellulosic agricultural by-products are a
copious and cheap source for cellulose fibres. Agro-based biofibres have the
composition properties and structure that make them suitable for uses such as
composite. Reddy and Yang (
2005
) reviewed the production processes, structure,
properties and suitability of biofibres for various industrial applications. Ardente
et al. (
2008
) presented a life cycle assessment of a kenaf-fibre insulation board
following the international standards of the ISO 14040 series. Each life cycle step
has been checked, from kenaf production and board manufacture, to use and
disposal. A comparison among various insulating materials was carried out also.
Hyvarinen et al. (
2002
) investigated whether fungal genera and actinobacteria
were associated with seven types of moisture-damaged building materials by
systematically describing the mycobiota and enumerating fungi and bacteria in
these materials. They found the highest median concentrations of fungi were
observed in wooden and paper materials, and lowest in samples of mineral insu-
lation, ceramic products, and paints and glues. Concentrations of viable bacteria in
mineral insulation materials were significantly lower than in wood, paper, ceramic
products and plastics. A rich variety of fungi was found in wooden materials.
Vegetable fibrous materials that span the nano-to-mesoscales have potentially
broad applications. The review by Woolfson and Ryadnov (
2006
) focused on
potential applications of bioinspired fibrous materials and centred on the devel-
opments in the design of peptide-based fibres and particularly those using the
alpha-helix and the collagen triple helix as building blocks for self-assembly.
Neethirajan et al. (
2009
) reviewed the background on plant silica bodies, silica
uptake mechanisms and applications and suggest possible ways of producing plant
silica bodies with new functions for nanotechnology.
Energy use in buildings covers a large share of world's total end-use of energy.
A challenging task of building professionals today is to design and promote
NZEB/ZEB energy buildings in a cost effective and environmentally responsive
way, keeping that in mind that large portion of existing buildings were not
designed to meet NZEB/ZEB requirements. It has been reported that as for the
NZEB-related technologies, the current market for insulation materials should
grow by about two to three times (Boermans
2011
). There is no doubt that the
design principles of eco-friendly insulation will play an increasingly important role
alongside the uses of vegetable fibres will gain their importance in insulation
industry.
Acknowledgments
This research was supported by the Academy of Finland.
